Radiation-emitting devices are used for the treatment of cancerous tumors within patients. The primary goal of treating cancerous tumors with radiation therapy is the eradication of the cancerous cells, while the secondary goal is to avoid, to the maximum possible extent, damaging healthy tissue and organs in the vicinity of the tumor. Typically, a radiation therapy device includes a gantry that can be rotated around a horizontal axis of rotation during the delivery of a therapeutic treatment. A particle linear accelerator (LINAC) is located within the gantry, and generates a therapeutic high-energy radiation beam, such as an electron beam or photon (x-ray) beam. The patient is placed on a treatment table located at the isocenter of the gantry, and the radiation beam is directed towards the tumor or lesion to be treated.
Safety is paramount in radiotherapy, and one critical consideration is minimizing or eliminating a collision between the moving parts of the radiotherapy equipment and anything else in the room, be it accessory, operator or patient. During radiotherapy treatment, portions of the equipment or other objects in the treatment environment may be hidden to the operator (who, for safety reasons is in a separate room) as the gantry is rotated around an area of treatment. It is critical that potential collisions be detected prior to their occurrence, such that a radiation treatment plan can be successfully completed despite obstacles in the environment.
Existing systems generally rely on some sort of proximity detector, such as ultrasound, light barrier or a tactile sensor, which requires a moving part to come into a certain proximal range of another object before the system determines that any action is required. These systems, however, are unable to predict whether a collision may occur, and therefore are unable to modify treatment delivery in advance to avoid such collisions and deliver treatment with minimal or no interruption.
Accordingly, a need exists for methods and systems that allow for predictive collision detection for radiotherapy equipment and other objects in a treatment environment that consider treatment delivery plans prior to actual delivery.